Pokemon Bank

I am sure there are many people who like to collect things, be it music, books, games, camera lenses. I am one such person, as I have collected many DVDs/Blu-rays, books, camera lenses in my time. Now the world of Pokemon is about completing certain missions, but also about finding and collecting different Pokemon during the journey. Hence about over 3 weeks ago, I had finally took the plunge and subscribed to the Pokemon Bank. This would allow my daughters and I to store the Pokemon that we have caught while playing the various Pokemon games – Diamond, Black, X, Alpha Sapphire, Omega Ruby (which I had bought for my daughter so she had something to look forward to after she completes all her GCSE exams) and Moon.

Now the subscription for the Pokemon Bank is £4.49 a year (or $4.99). This allows you to store Pokemon from various games into a central bank, including from much older generation games. The storing of Pokemon will also allow you to earn Battle Points to use in the various games. It is also the only way to transfer Pokemon from the older generation DS games such as Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum through B/W/B2/W2, into the newer 3DS games (X/Y/ORAS, Sun/Moon). This involves using the Poke Transporter App to import from B/W/B2/W2 into the Transport Bank within Pokemon Bank.

Pokemon Bank App

In order to use the Poke Transporter, one would need to have a subscription to the Pokemon Bank, as the Pokemon which are transported have to be stored into the Bank first before it can be moved into the 3DS Pokemon games. An important point to note is that once these Pokemon are transferred out of B/W/B2/W2, then it is no longer possible to transfer them back into the original games.

The other important thing to note is that once a Pokemon is taken into either generation VII games (Sun/Moon) then it is no longer possible to withdraw it into any of the generation VI games e.g. X/Y/ORAS. Looking at the background of the Pokemon stored in the bank will tell you whether that Pokemon can be taken out in that game or not (see later).

Poke Transporter – to import Pokemon from B/W/B2/W2

My daughters and I have managed to catch/trade for most of the Pokemon in the National Pokedex with 790 Pokemon caught, and only the 12 Legendary Event Pokemon left to collect.

790 of 802 Pokemon caught. 3 games registered with Pokemon Bank currently

I have stored the Pokemon in their correct order based on their Pokedex number. Below are the first 30 Pokemon on the Pokedex as viewed when the Bank is opened with Pokemon X. As can be seen the background is shaded out to inform that these Pokemon have come from the Sun or Moon game and cannot be withdrawn using generation VI games (X/Y/ORAS). The Pokemon are stored in boxes according to Pokedex up to 802. I will post photos of the entire Bank at some point in the future.

Pokedex 1 to 30 – background is shaded to suggest they are not available to withdraw in the game cartridge currently in use

Next I have managed to collect the other different Pokemon variants and stored them in their own box. Below are the Unown in alphabetical order including ! and ?. As can be seen, there are ones where the background is unshaded e.g. B and F to I…. These can be withdrawn in X/Y/ORAS, as they have not been taken into the generation VII games (Sun/Moon).

Unown in alphabetical order

I have also managed to collect the other Pokemon with different variants. These include ones where there is a difference due to gender, or variants due to regions (Alolan Pokemon can be different). I have also managed to catch the different forms of Wormadam and Rotom.

Variants of the same Pokemon

We have many legendary Pokemon caught from the various games. Hence the ones not being used for trading or to fill the Pokedex are placed into their own boxes. Here you can see that we have managed to get the 4 different forms of Deoxys.

Legendary Pokemon

Pokemon is an interesting world and certainly can provide collectors much fun and distraction. It is even more fun when those around you (friends or children) are also into the same hobby. There will be more to come about the different Pokemon that can be collected in future e.g. the different variants of the Vivillon .

Important Points to note about Pokemon Bank and Poke Transporter:

It requires a yearly subscription (£4.49/$4.99) in order to keep the Pokemon Bank active.

To import Pokemon from generation IV (Diamond/Pearl/Platinum), you will need to have 2 DS systems and a copy of generation V game (Black/White/Black2/White2). I simply followed the instructions from sources on the internet on how to do this.

Once transported, these Pokemon can longer be returned to their original games (both from gen. IV to gen. V, and from gen. V to gen. VI-VII).

Pokemon transferred from gen. V can be taken into gen. VI (ORAS) or VII (Sun/Moon).

But once Pokemon are moved into gen VII, then you can longer bring them into gen VI games.